The present invention relates to gas scrubbers for feeding air having solid particles and impurities therein through sprinkler towers to a collection pond, and then out an opening to the atmosphere.
In the past, it has been quite common to provide a great variety of air cleaning and gas cleaning systems of the scrubber type, in which the gas is fed through a shower of water and in which small particles of matter are collected by the water as the gas passes therethrough. The gas is thereby cleansed, and the impurities collected in the water, which may be fed off or collected and settled in a pond. Typical prior gas scrubbers may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,908 for an apparatus for discharging fluid gases from blast furnaces and the like, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,898 for an apparatus for the removal of particulate material such as fumes, fog or mist from a gas stream, by passing the gas stream through a venturi scrubber, where liquid droplets are dispersed into the venturi scrubber. U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,469 shows an apparatus for the removal of contaminants from gas streams, as does U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,448 for a scrubber and combustion apparatus. This latter patent illustrates the feeding of gas through a serpentine passageway having baffles therein, along with sprinkler systems, and includes a drain for removing collected waste from the scrubber. The present invention utilizes a pair of interconnected vertically extending towers attached to adjacent tanks for holding water having chemicals added thereto and the gas input attached to both towers in a manner that one tower and tank are always connected to the input, while one tower and tank are always disconnected for cleaning. This system advantageously allows for the continuous operation of a scrubber for use with gases ladened with large amounts of impurities, such as from coal mines and the like.